Ripasso

Ripasso is an Italian red wine from Valpolicella made by fermenting young wine with the unpressed but drained skins and lees left over from making Amarone. Today, ripasso is made by a number of producers, often using their own variations of this basic method.

Ripasso normally has a lighter taste than Amarone wines, which makes it easier to combine with food, and is often less expensive.

History

The first Ripasso wine was produced in 1964 by the Masi Winery. The wine is called Campofiorin. Masi was the first winery to apply the technique of making a second fermentation of Valpolicella grapes (Corvina, Molinara, and Rondinella) on the lees of the Amarone transforming a young fresh wine into a rich full bodied wine suitable for aging in barrel and bottle.

Many other producers from Valpolicella were inspired by the success and quality of Campofiorin and began to introduce other interpretations of ripasso wines in the 1980s. After a long litigation, Masi, who had registered the ripasso name, deposited it with the Verona Chamber of commerce and ripasso will be integrated into the Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC.

In the 1990s Masi evolved the technique of ripasso. Instead of fermenting the young wine on the lees of the Amarone, (which could introduce oxidised and botrytis flavours, as well as additional tannins), Masi began to also re-ferment the wine by adding dried grapes to the young wine in December. This evolution of the ripasso technique produced the rich concentrated flavours of the traditional ripasso but with less harsh tannins and better colour. This technique is referred to by Masi as double fermentation.

A newer addition to the market is Villa Visconti's Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso D.O.C.

Wines

Today there are over 60 ripasso wines on the market. The wine usually contains 13-14% alcohol.

ee also

* Straw wine